Zemni
by random-k
Summary: Something told him it was a bad idea. It was probably paranoia, but still Wes went through with the deal. Krane got a shadow Pokémon ,and Wes got a sinking feeling that somewhere, somehow, this would backfire on him.


Zemni

* * *

_I own nothing but my own ideas_

* * *

A teen in a blue coat stood in a bare waiting room, tapping his foot impatiently. In the region of Orre, there isn't room for black and white morality, but this was beginning to seem like a bad idea. Not that the young man in question hadn't participated in bad ideas before. This deal he was making was supposed to benefit people.

Of course, the road to Hell was often paved with the best intentions. Not that he would ever want to visit Hell, Michigan. It was nothing but a giant tourist trap, and Wes was, on principal, reluctant to spending large amounts of money.

It certainly didn't help his mood that he was the only one who had bothered to be punctual. What was taking those guys so long, anyway?

It felt like forever, but in reality was probably about fifteen minuets, before the professor ran into the room. Professor Krane was covered in flower and tomato sauce. Wes figured asking about it would be a bad idea, and waited for the man to catch his breath.

"Sorry I'm late" Krane began.

"Save it." Wes told him. He really did not want to know. "Instead tell me why you asked me to come here today. You said you would give me the details in person."

Krane looked uncomfortable." Yes I did." He told him, fidgeting.

Wes was not amused. "Tell me now. Or I'm leaving." He meant it too. So far this was a huge waste of time.

"Well I would like your remaining shadow Pokémon,"

This had not been what Wes was expecting.

"What!" He had asked, shocked and outraged.

"That came out wrong." Krane admitted. "We are hoping to discover a way to purify shadow Pokémon. A new way. A way without battling. A faster way. We hope to create a purifying chamber."

"Purifying chamber?" Wes cocked his head in confusion.

"A way to purify Pokémon in the absence of skilled trainers. We hope to give it a similar effect to the Relic Stone. Obviously it wont be infused with Celebi's power, but we hope the presence of the time flute will help."

The presence of an object used to summon Celebi would help? Granted, the Relic Stone had helped, but from what he had seen the flute was useless until it was played. Krane was not to different from the rest of the Orre weirdo's it seamed.

"We would like your shadow Pokémon so we can study the purification process and replicate it." Krane continued.

"I would like to see a list of names of everyone even vaguely related to the project, and if any one of their background checks don't pan out, I'm not letting you get within ten steps of them." Wes growled.

Even if shadow Pokémon were a pain to train and purify, he wasn't about to hand them over. They were his Pokémon at the end of the day, and they respected him. They were all at various stages of cure, but he wouldn't be giving up on them. Not even now, when it was getting hard to find someone willing to battle him. The "honest" citizens of Orre (and wasn't that thought hilarious) believed him to have gone back to being a snagger, and the criminals were Cipher or people he had snagged from.

"I trust everyone on my team." Krane insisted.

"I don't." Wes told him. "I don't even trust you. "

"Why don't you?" Krane asked.

Was he serious?

"Why should I trust you?" Wes countered. "You have given me no reason to trust you."

"And no reason not to trust us." Krane pointed out.

Trust was not something that came easily to Wes. Why would it? It was his trust in an old friend that had gotten him involved with Cipher in the first place.

"We would like anything you can give us on shadow Pokémon and purifying actually. We wish to find a cure." Krane told him earnestly.

" Cipher had people trusted by the region within its ranks. It was run by the mayor of Phenac. And despite what you may think, they are not gone. I was brought down by one. How do you know you don't have spies among your ranks? Ones who will steal your research and ,twist it to make a Pokémon that truly can not be purified? "

Krane looked hesitant. " I trust them. But you have a point. Still , Cipher is probably hiding, and we will need a way to purify them faster. When that time comes, shadow Pokémon will come in faster then the tide. We need to be ready. "

"You realize you will all become a target?" Wes asked.

"It will be worth it to save the Pokémon." Krane told him.

Wes sighed. He really couldn't stay in the Orre and purify them much longer. He had considered leaving, but honestly, he couldn't. Where else would he find a relic stone? He couldn't stay in Orre much longer either. His sanity wouldn't allow it.

It seamed like a no win situation. He could take a leap of faith, and trust the scientists and leave them to deal with Cipher. Or he could deal with it alone.

Honestly he wished he had bought Rui. Her consistent chattering always got more information out of people, then they would normally reveal. That, and she understood that Wes didn't like talking, and would have done it for him. It had landed him in a bit of cash shortages occasionally, but she got better at it, and he won bigger prizes by the time she had learned the art of bargain.

He walked over to the P.C feeling like both him and Krane were missing something. He logged on and withdrew Miltank and gave her to Chestnut Krane.

He logged off.

"Take care of her." He warned. "I will not hesitate to maim you if she is hurt."

He smiled and Krane looked nervous. Good.

"When Cipher comes back, send measurements, and I will come with a snag machine of my own design."

He began walking out.

" Contact Nett and the Kids Grid for information." He called over his shoulder.

Despite the dramatic exit, he felt worried. He felt like the both of them, were in some way blind. They were missing something from the picture.

Wes was not a good man or a bad man, and he didn't believe in any of the concepts. He was a criminal, a hero, a rebel, and scapegoat. He was jaded. But he was not an idiot walking into a wall

…So why did he feel like he had just done so?…

* * *

_Zemni is a blind mole-rat._

_Wes is hard to capture. But I like him._

_I wanted to explore how Krane got his research. This is what I came up with._

_Please review it!_


End file.
